This invention relates to hair clips for securing a generally cylindrical roller with its wound tress of hair on the head of a user.
More particularly, this invention relates to a hair clip which may be utilized with cylindrical rollers having a range of outside diameters. The hair clip secures the generally cylindrical roller with its wound tress of hair in a direction generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical roller.
There are two general types of hair clips used to secure a generally cylindrical roller with its wound tress of hair on the head of a user. These types may be referred to as a longitudinal clip and a perpendicular clip. The longitudinal hair clip is meant to secure a roller with its wound tress in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the roller. Typically, when a longitudinal clip, such as a bobbie pin, is used, the roller with its wound tress is secured by having one arm of the bobbie pin placed inside the hollow roller and the other arm placed over the wound tress. Accordingly, the tress tends to unwind to the pin. That is, a portion of the wound tress is lost in that the longitudinal clip defines a bending point for hanging the tress. It is therefore critical where a longitudinal clip is positioned.
The second type of hair clip, the perpendicular clip, secures the roller with its wound tress on the head of the user in a direction generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the generally cylindrical roller. In general, the perpendicular clips are sized to match the outside diameter of a specific roller size. The necessity for perpendicular clips to be matched to the size of the roller makes it more likely that the wrong size clip will be used on the roller. This could lead to an improperly secured roller. Further, when the hair clip is made of a material such as metal, the improper use of prior art perpendicular hair clips could lead to permanent deforming of the hair clip after several uses.
The prior art problems and disadvantages mentioned above have been substantially overcome by the practice of this invention in which in a preferred embodiment a generally "U" shape hair clip, which secures the wound tress and roller on the head in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical roller, is provided. Each of the two arms of the hair clip, which are joined by a hinge portion, include an arc segment. The concave portion of the first arc segment faces the concave portion of the second arc segment. The arc segments are not concentric. That is, the first arc segment has a centerpoint different than the centerpoint of the second arc segment. Further, one of the arms of the hair clip is reinforced in order to get better confirmation of the hair clip to the head of the user.